Article excerpt

THE largest privately owned environmental consultancy in the UK, has set its sights on expanding in Wales.

RSK which has 18 offices across the UK, a presence in Europe and the Middle East and a turnover of pounds 63m, opened its Cardiff office last September.

The company's focus is on environmentally-based projects like impact assessment and environmental development, which includes ecological surveys, site investigation, air quality and noise assessment, On planning issues RSK's activities range from project feasibility to providing technical submissions required to support a planning application, providing environmental permits and on-site supervision.

The Cardiff office is run by senior environmental consultant Catherine Mackay.

The Newport-born 29-year-old said the company had gone ahead with plans for opening an office at Cardiff Gate Business Park despite the recession, which had seen cutbacks kept to a minimum.

"Our portfolio is an extensive one," Ms Mackay said.

"In Wales a great deal of the work we are currently doing is environmentally-based, like impact assessment and the potential effect of a development on the environment, which includes ecological surveys, site investigation, air quality and noise assessment, "On the planning front this can go from project feasibility to making an environmental statement, providing the technical submissions required to support a planning application, providing an environmental permit, discharging the planning conditions and on-site supervision."

RSK first came to the public's attention in Wales when appointed by the National Grid as principal environmental consultants to the LNG pipeline, that runs from Milford Haven to Gloucester. …

Weighing the Value of a Ton of Pollution: Introducing Trading Was a Helpful Start toward Market- Oriented Reforms, but Policymakers Need to Get the Prices of Permits Right to Get the Most out of Environmental RegulationsMuller, Nicholas Z. Mendelsohn, Robert.
Regulation, Vol. 33, No. 2, Summer 2010